National Highways has started procurement for hydrogen supply over the five-year construction period of the Lower Thames Crossing, a new road tunnel linking Essex and Kent.
This initiative aims to reduce the carbon footprint of the project, which is intended to alleviate congestion on the Dartford Crossing, part of the M25.
The operator of England’s motorways said the project aims to explore “carbon neutral” construction methods.
Kat Ferguson, Supply Chain Development Director for the Lower Thames Crossing, stated that the project is designed to be the UK’s greenest road, with a goal of changing how major infrastructure is built to align with net zero objectives.
Kat Ferguson said: “We are actively seeking ways to end our reliance on diesel to build the project and earlier this year launched one of the UK’s largest ever purchases of hydrogen to replace millions of litres of diesel on our work sites, particularly to power heavy construction plant.
“The hydrogen market is a new, emerging sector in the UK and following extensive discussions with potential suppliers we now have a much better understanding of the market and our own needs in terms of volume and timing of supply, so have redefined our requirements.”
